California’s business community, led by BOMA California, the California Business Property Association and the California Chamber of Commerce, defeated Assembly Bill 350, one of the most far–reaching pieces of legislation to impact the state’s commercial real estate industry in years. The bill required service providers to hire a previous contractor’s employees each time a new contract is generated. On an unprecedented seventh floor vote in two days, the California Senate finally voted the bill down on a bipartisan vote, 17 Ayes–18 Nays (21 needed to pass), as one of the last acts of its legislative year on September 10.

BOMA California leveraged the BOMA International Industry Defense Fund to mount a campaign against the measure, and form the "No on AB 350" coalition, a group of business, healthcare, tourism and service providers. Members of the No on AB 350 Coalition included BOMA California, the California Chamber of Commerce, NAIOP of California, the California Hospital Association, the California Grocers Association, the California Attractions and Parks Association, the California Hotel & Lodging Association, Able Services and Paragon Services Janitorial. The campaign’s lobbying effort in Sacramento was greatly aided by a media effort which generated 20 newspaper editorials voicing opposition to the bill. BOMA members also mobilized a heavy grassroots effort to educate their legislators on the bill’s damaging impacts.

Assembly Bill 350 required employers with new contracts for property services, such as building maintenance, licensed security, window cleaners and food cafeteria services, to hire all of the prior contractor’s employees for at least 90 days. The bill impacted any property with service contracts, including hospitals, commercial properties, restaurants, grocery stores, universities and hotels. These same constraints applied to the sale of a building. A new owner would be mandated to retain all of the existing service contractors’ employees from the previous building owner and would not be able to bring in new service contractors with different employees. Similar successful efforts to pass this type of law have been seen in local markets around the country. However, stopping this bold first attempt to apply the law to an entire state will help stymie future efforts.

"Congratulations to the ‘No on AB 350 Coalition’ and the members of the BOMA local associations in California for their hard–fought efforts in defeating California Assembly Bill 350," commented BOMA International Chair Boyd R. Zoccola, executive vice president, Hokanson Companies Inc. "This bill tried to dictate hiring decisions for building service employees by requiring that any time a service contract is changed, businesses would be required to retain the previous contractor’s employees for a 90–day period. In other words, the building management or contract could change, but the new company must retain all the previous employees at the property. Not only was this bill bad for California, it would have set a national precedent."

For more information on their effort, visit www.ab350areyoukiddingme.com.